Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success

by Jeff Hiller

You might have heard of Namibia in pop culture because it’s where they filmed Mad Max: Fury Road. It is also where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt went to have their twins because it was so remote, no paparazzi could get to them. It is roughly the size of Texas and Oklahoma but has a smaller population than Houston. It is a desert nation, home to Dune 7, one of the highest sand dunes in the world. So, basically, exactly like Ireland. Namibia was once a German colony, which is why it is a predominantly Christian country and also why it has towns that look like Ye Olde Christmas Village but with sand instead of snow. Namibia’s history is harsh. After World War I, the territory was ruled by South Africa, which instituted the racist and brutal policy of apartheid. The country gained its independence in 1990 after a deadly war. South Africa elected Nelson Mandela in 1994, so apartheid was not ancient history when I arrived in Windhoek, Namibia, in August of 1996.